Maybe I hadn’t been meant for “normal.”
Maybe Merv’s lies were bigger than even I could’ve imagined.Maybe my real father really had been a magic man, a sorcerer, or an elven prince, and with his blood running through my veins, what humans experienced as “normal” had grown into a sickness inside me.
Maybe I’d never been meant to fit in.
But daydreams and made-up bullshit didn’t include Stu.How could he fit into my stories?He was real and mortal, and he needed real love and connection, not faeries and elves.
AJ too.And it hit me: She was where I had always belonged.She owned my heart; tonight had proved it, and no matter where she was, there would always be a place for me with her.
I pushed her away because of the question pounding into the back of my skull every minute of every goddamn day, the one I feared would always loom over my head:
Did I deserve it?Did I deserve either of them?
Voices in the hallway stopped my mind from running away with itself, and I sat up and braced for impact as they came closer.
When the door finally creaked open and Bax walked in, I stood, feeling more alone than I ever had in my life.My brother didn’t say anything, but he watched as I hid my still-bloody hands in my pockets.
“Hey, little brother,” he said, “looks like you’ve had an eventful night, but we came to spring you.”
“We?”I asked as two men unknown to me followed after Bax, and then Brand crowded into the room behind them.
“Brand, Abey, and me,” Bax said.“Merv doesn’t know about this yet.I’m sure the rumor mill will clue her in by mornin’, but for now you’ll stay with Brand.Roxi’s already made up their couch for you.”
“This is Brent Harbour,” Brand said, motioning to the younger of the two men, and then he nodded at the older guy.“And this is Gentry Vicks.Brent’s local, from Jackson, and Gentry’s a criminal attorney.I’m sorry it took so long, but they needed some time to familiarize themselves with what happened and with yours and Mahone’s histories.”
Stunned, I asked, “You hired lawyers for me?”Where was the judgment?Where were the “I told you so” glances between my brothers?
Where was the disappointment?
“’Course we did,” Bax said, like it meant nothing.But it was everything.
“But what about… I mean, I broke the law.I-I hit that man.I’m guilty.And what about Stu?”
“What about him?”Bax said.“He’s five.He doesn’t need to know anything about tonight.”
“But you’ll still let me see him?”I didn’t want to sound like I was begging, but I was and it sounded exactly like that.“You’re not gonna keep me away?”
Bax stepped closer to my cage and reached his hand between the bars, like he wanted to reach out to me, but then he lowered it and let it rest on the metal.“You’re his dad, ain’t you?”
“Yeah, but?—”
“And someday, when he’s older and he asks, you can tell him that you protected a woman from her abuser.What’s so bad about that?”
“The DA isn’t issuing charges,” Brand said.“Abey’s already spoken to the judge.There’s no bail to post.If anything comes of what happened tonight, it will be civil, and trust when I tell you this, brother: I have more money than Mr.Mahone could even dream of.He won’t win.
“Besides,” he said, clapping the younger guy on his back, “Brent here tells me that Cody Mahone has bigger fish to fry.Apparently, he got some young woman pregnant.She used to work for his mother and developed a little crush on that moron, so they’ll be busy dealin’ with that mess.The woman is over eighteen, but barely, and she and her parents are goin’ after the Mahones in court for all kinds of things.What happened tonight will blow over, but if it doesn’t, we’ve got you covered.”
I hadn’t realized I’d begun to cry, not even when I fell to the floor on my ass.It took Abey pushing past all the men standing outside my cell.She unlocked the door and crouched in front of me, the keys hooked to her belt loop tinkling like a faerie’s wings.I looked up at her, and she took hold of my hands.
“I’ve been on the phone all night with Judge Petersen and others.I’m sorry I left you alone in here, but I’ve needed time to work this out ethically.But that’s what we did.You’re free to go.
“And look, I know Brand wants you to stay at his house, but just sayin’, Devo and I have a couch too.In fact, we have a guest room, and the bed in there is like sleepin’ on a cloud.”
She grinned, and I threw my arms around my baby sister and held on tight.
When I steppedoutside the station, my hands still damp from scrubbing them in the restroom sink, the warm night air on my skin sent a blast of calm through me, but it was the woman standing with her back to me, holding a large, floral tote bag and texting on her phone, that eased my worried heart.
Bax, Brand, Abey, and the lawyers moved further down the sidewalk to talk and give me a minute, so I walked up behind AJ, hoping she hadn’t heard my approach.
